Lucy's Spoken Word
by The 21st Century Pendragon
Summary: Lucy gets to present her poetry writing to her siblings for the very first time. But how will the Louds react to Lucy's profound writing?
1. Part 1

**Originally, I supposed to have a Luna-centered piece released before my vacation. But it is too much depth that it needs time to get to the story I intended it to be. Instead, I give to you a Lucy-centered story. There's more to go after my vacation, including a discussion about "One of the Boys". (We'll get to that.)**

 **Since Lucy is another fan favorite, I opt to give her the spotlight, even for just a simple story. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Loud House**_ **and the following songs:**

" **In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly**

" **While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by The Beatles**

" **Mad World" by Tears for Fears**

" **Carmen Habanera" by Georges Bizet**

" **Perfect" by Simple Plan**

 **Also, congratulations to Chris and his awesome team for the Season 3 pickup of** _ **The Loud House**_ **. I just hope there will be more thoughtful episodes to go. Good luck them and the emerging fanbase!**

* * *

It's Friday night in the Loud house. And the Loud siblings convene to the living room to witness four of the siblings auditioning to represent for the Louds on Royal Woods Annual Talent Show. Luna, Luan, Lola and Lucy line up as potential representatives for the Loud family, with Lori, Lincoln and Lisa to judge the participants.

"Okay guys. Four of us will showcase their talents for this upcoming talent show," Lincoln announces as he is also the host for the occasion, "So good luck to the four of you, Luna, Luan, Lola and Lucy. Break a leg."

Leni then comments, "Lincoln, why would you do that? To tell them to break a leg?"

"No Leni. It is another way to say 'good luck'," Lincoln replies.

"Oh," Leni realizes, dumbfounded.

"Okay, first off, Luna!" Lincoln gives the stage to Luna. As usual, Luna is going to perform a song. This time, it is "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly, using a keyboard synthesizer with an additional percussion setting. She does her number on its 17-minute running time, not noticing that her siblings are struggling to stay awake from her number. (If you listened to the actual song, you will notice its lengthy instrument solos, which are awesome.)

As she proceeds to the final notes, Luna exclaims, "Rock on Loud house! Stage dive!" and does her signature stage dive, collapsing to the judges' table and causing the judges to wake up.

"What happened?" Lori implies from her wake-up call.

"So, how is it guys?" Luna asks, still on the crushed table.

Slightly unimpressed, Lincoln calls the next participant. "Next!"

For that, Luan steps in with her stool to do her occasional standup routine with her ventriloquist buddy, Mr. Coconuts.

"Hey Mr. Coconuts, what can you say about our current presidential elections?" Luan does her routine.

"Well, there's nothing much to say, other than I see two kids onstage trumping each other," she as Mr. Coconuts answers.

"Hahaha. That's definitely 'hilari'-ous, Mr. Coconuts. Hahaha!" But as Luan does her routine, her siblings just watch blankly, either not understanding what Luan just joked about or perennially hiding the fact that they are annoyed by Luan's puns. Either those or they were intentionally irresponsive to political satire. Cue cricket sound effects.

"Next!" Lori hollers.

It is Lola's turn to showcase her talents. As usual, she does her ribbon dancing routine, which only involves repetitive twirling of the ribbon and occasional, graceful spins.

"Witness brother and sisters. The showpiece that can puts other showpieces to shame," Lola boasts, making her siblings groan.

"Oh, we'll see about that," Luna utters.

Lola is doing fine in her ribbon dance. However, her graceful spins make her step onto the ribbon that send her body being entirely tied up. Because of that, she lays on the floor, trying to break loose from her ties.

"Guys, help me out here," Lola says, making the Louds witness the detriment she is facing. But it seems to be relief for them, a fair comeuppance on her boasting.

"We'll do it in the meantime," Lisa replies, "For now, last contestant!"

Lucy then steps in front, readying her talent portion. She sets up a radio and plugs it in. The emo Loud also pulls out her harmonica.

Curious, Lincoln asks in enthusiasm, "So Lucy, what will you be doing for us?"

"Well, I will be doing my spoken word presentation, with music," Lucy replies petulantly.

The judges look to each other, skeptical of what Lucy is about to present. Still, Lincoln allows her to present. "Okay, let a rip, Lucy."

Giving her a signal, Lucy starts her presentation with a harmonica number of a rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by The Beatles on its first chords. After that out of the way, she turns on the radio and plays a depressing instrumental of Gary Jules' rendition of Tears for Fears' "Mad World". Then, she begins to recite her poem entitled "House", along with few interpretive hand gestures.

 _To ponder on my dwelling place_

 _Gray within the colors of grace_

 _To see my soul, foreign and cold_

 _And to let this tale go untold_

 _How I see, not how he or she has_

 _A reflection from broken glass_

 _For what bears in a sundry world_

 _When these thoughts of mine end up hurled_

 _But each is a clone of its own_

 _Not a single soul spared when thrown_

 _Colors could blind innocent eyes_

 _Even sunshine has to despise_

 _Why brood when sun cannot meet rain?_

 _Or to feel relief, there is pain?_

 _A house divided of itself_

 _Is like the fall of a bookshelf._

With that, Lucy ends her poem. "I supposed to have a third stanza, but I do not feel obliged to give it, for I am satisfied with this. Well, thoughts?"

The only reaction that her siblings can ever attain is a huge jaw-drop of how existentially perceiving Lucy's poem is. They can only stare at how Lucy's piece became deep, profound and relatable for them. Even the young ones are awestruck at their goth sister's words. Noticing their immediate reaction, Lucy walks out, thinking of a mission accomplished. "My work here is done. If you need me, find me at my personal fortress. I will be resting at peace."

As Lucy walks out, the rest of the Loud siblings look to each other in bewilderment, not knowing how to move on from Lucy's striking poem. Their facial expression (of their jaw dropped and eyes widened) remain petrified for the whole day, and each sibling has their moment of not being able to move on.

To the tune of "Carmen Habanera" by Georges Bizet (the theme music from Pixar's _Up_ in one of the opening scenes where Carl Fredricksen is preparing for the day), here is how each Loud sibling (except for Lucy) spend their day:

Lola is playing tea party with her plush toys but she continues to pour tea, till it overflows. And she still has the same facial reaction.

Leni is waiting on line to pay for her shopping items, but she remains petrified while an angry queue behind her is persuading her to move to the counter. She still has the same facial reaction.

Luan is about to do her gig in a kid's birthday party, but she remains unscathed, making the kids scratch their heads. She still has the same facial reaction.

Lily is being fed by Mrs. Loud. As her mother feeds her, Lily just opens her mouth and never chews the food down. She still has the same facial reaction.

Lynn is out on her soccer practice. With the ball passed to her, she never pass it to her teammates. Or even when she gets hit by the ball, Lynn is left unharmed. She still has the same facial reaction.

Luna is jamming with her roadies. However, she just remains standing aloof onstage, prompting her audience to wonder. She still has the same facial reaction.

Lana is sitting by on a puddle of mud. And still, she remains sitting there. This allows a fly to enter her mouth, making her swallow it. She still has the same facial reaction.

Lisa is mixing chemicals as part of her experiments. Despite the hazardous reactions of boiling them, the child prodigy leaves them exposed, rapidly combusting them. And she still has the same facial reaction.

Lori is currently with Bobby on their nth date. As they are about to have dinner, Lori remains petrified, raising concern for Bobby. "Lori, you there. Earth to Lori!" Bobby tries to snap Lori out, but she still has the same facial reaction.

And Lincoln is at class. Clyde becomes very concerned at Lincoln's overstretched petrified reaction that he is forced to shake him. "Lincoln, wakey wakey! You're acting weird," Clyde attempts to snap him to reality, but he still has the same facial reaction.

After a day off, all siblings gather at the living room to watch TV, but they still stick their same facial reaction. Lucy walks in late, noticing their monotonous expression. Persuaded, she then shares to the readers, "Now this is what happens when you listen deeply to my poems. I am sure this would not last long, or though. Who can tell?"

The next morning came, Lucy wakes up nicely. But when she faces Lynn, the 8-year-old goth sees her 13-year-old athletic junkie staring at her ball. She immediately suspects Lynn to be "sentimental".

"Lucy, the ball is round. It's just round. It's all round," Lynn sulkily says. Feeling unmoved, Lucy leaves for the bathroom. But as she walks out, she sees her siblings having the same emo aura as Lynn.

"I now found the sense of winning beauty pageants," Lola sighs, staring at her pageant achievements existentially.

Lori and Leni are in irregular getups (sweaters and leggings), brooding over their laptop, browsing on a blogsite. Lori is also hugging through her sweater, texting while crouching.

Lana, who is hugging Hops wholly, and Lisa, who is dumping her hobby experiments, is starting doodling on the walls with deathly illustrations.

Lucy walks in to Lily's room to see Lily reading _Where the Wild Things Are_ for toddlers. As the story is kind of depressing, Lily sighs in satisfaction.

The 8-year-old then walks to Lincoln to see her brother and her jokester sister Luan dressed like hardcore emos (just like the one in "Space Invader" for Lincoln and "Cover Girls" for Luan).

"Greetings Lucy, ain't it a day in the life? Where every step is as sharp as a knife," Lincoln proclaims morosely.

"Hey Lucy, what did the grape say when it was crushed?" Lucy gloomily asks.

"What?" Lucy goes along. Then Luan answers, "Little wine."

Then Lucy speechlessly responds, "I don't know what to say to that."

Luan then spouts, "You don't have to. It just dies in you."

Feeling overfed with the amount of emotional overdrive, Lucy hysterically cries out, "Could this get any moodier?"

And just as she said that, Luna bursts out from her room and strums a depressing tune. She sings, " _'Cause we lost it all_ , _Nothing lasts forever_. _I'm sorry, I can't be perfect_."

Then, the rest sing along, " _Now it's just too late and we can't go back, I'm sorry, I can't be perfect_."

But Lucy, seeing too much moodiness, walks back to her room and addresses this to the readers, "Looks like this house just got darker. Need to take a break. Just gonna let the mood die first." (And we know what Lucy does to take a break from the darkness. MLP anyone?)


	2. Part 2

After a day of sulk, Lucy lets it pass and dozes off to sleep. It is one thing for one of her siblings to react sulkily to one of her poetic creations. But it is another for the rest of her siblings to react the same way. So, what better escape than for her to sleep it off.

Uneventfully for Lucy, she enters to a dream.

* * *

It is a bright and scenic sunset that Lucy stumbles upon on a hill. She watches the sun goes down gradually and beautifully. Its rays touch the fields below, giving an orange light illumination down below.

At the descent of the sun comes the night. Lucy grins in happiness as she feels her enjoyable hours are coming. And just at that thought, a dark aura surrounds the hill. A cold breeze touches her skin. The night fog starts to swarm the area.

Lucy proceeds to climb uphill as she is expecting the arrival of her beloved one. And there, emerging from the thick mist is her beloved one, the vampire Edwin.

She grins in serenity, finally getting to see her kindred spirit after the previous night to arrive with his waving cloak, his velveteen vest, his glistening hair, his deathly eyes and his galvanic fangs. It is no question why Lucy Loud would adore this immortal prince of darkness.

In usual fashion, Lucy welcomes him poetically, "Oh, Edwin, my love. Your luminescence on your skin glows the darkest parts of my heart, your immortal youth is a visage that never tears us apart. May the crescent never fade, for your light everlasting; To you, I seek comfort whenever I need resting."

Smitten by her words, Edwin responds with a voice that is reminiscent of David Bowie as the Goblin King in _Labyrinth_ , only with a prepubescent tone, "My dear Lucy, I knew you would wait for me till death do us part."

"Oh Edwin, if only our love is possible to the world," Lucy utters sweetly.

"How could it not be possible?" the immortal asks back.

"Well, my family. How would they accept you? How would they accept my love for you?" Lucy states her worries.

"Lucy, you're so short-sided. Your family already loves us."

Lucy is perplexed by what Edwin implied. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Come with me to the hall. I think you will find it lovely." The hundred-years-old vampire then takes Lucy's hands and guides her to his residence seated at the darkest point of the hillside. This time, Lucy feels the aura transitioning from a _Twilight_ -ish mode to a Hammer Films-like one. And if that does not perplex her, the mist gets thicker and thicker. Her surrounding gets darker and darker. And the resulting feeling is a true-to-life gothic atmosphere.

After minutes of walking, Lucy never mutters a word, only leaving her with fascinated but unnerved emotions. They finally reach the gates of Edwin's den, where the latter opens the colossal gates with his telekinetic powers. He then elatedly takes Lucy to his manor.

The house is of sharp Gothic architecture. From the manor walls to the roofs, the whole place resembles that of a 14th century structure. The windows reach around two stories. And the wooden door is just as tall as the windows. It is truly the ideal details that Mary Shelley and Anne Rice would describe in their novels.

Edwin guides her to the staircase, and they enter the manor. A surprise to her, they stumble upon a festivity that resembles more of a matrimonial ceremony. He then commences the event, "Dear acquaintances and loved ones, let me introduce you to my beloved, forever and ever, Lucy."

"Greetings Lucy," the guests monotonously greet her.

"Now, we should thank Lucy for this occasion, for her light shone to darken the souls of the peers around us. For without her spirit, we would be nothing," Edwin declaims.

This claim confuses and troubles Lucy. "Uhmm Edwin, I don't know what you are talking about. What do you mean 'my spirit darkens the souls of the peers'?"

"Let me show you." He then points to the organ player from the balcony, who is playing a gothic version of "Friendship is Magic". The organist then turns to Lucy, revealing it to be Luna draped in a black dress and black makeup.

"Luna? What happened to you?!" Lucy shouts to her.

"There's just the right darkness in music. Music is so dark," she utters incoherently.

Right after her, two minions in full-body cloaks fetch her.

"Come with us," the minions demand to Lucy, revealing them to be Lola and Lana.

"Lola? Lana? What's going on?" she asks.

But the dark twins keep pushing her to the front. Edwin grins at this feat.

"Guys? What are you doing?" she keeps asking.

Along the way, the music gets louder as the twins bring Lucy in front. Behind her, darker versions of Lori and Leni sport a veil on her.

"What's this?" Lucy utters, "Lori? Leni? Why are you making me wear this?"

"Futility is what runs in the bloodstream, literally," Lori voices out.

"Joy is a venomous feeling. Only the melancholy is what defines me," Leni follows.

But Lucy persuades them, "Girls, I may have the same feeling when I'm around, but it doesn't you should be like that too."

"Too late to reconsider," the emo version of Lynn utters to her from behind. She then pushes Lucy to a wooden chair and straps her arms on the wooden rests.

A dark version of Lily additional straps her legs to the chair. "Lily?"

"We must let darkness light the way. You are the darkness," Lynn states.

"Lynn, doesn't that sound oxymoronic?" Lucy responds.

"Oh, an ox's blood, bitter but not as was this soul who would never see the sweet taste of victory," Lynn declaims.

"Okay Lynn, you've gone absurd," Lucy says.

But the occurrence gets eerier when the guests suddenly chant an ancient horror tune, conducted by a mad scientist version of Lisa.

"Raise your melodies, underlings," Lisa instructs, "We need to raise the amplitude to 90 decibels to weaken her." Just as Lisa predicated, Lucy tries to rub off the loud chant from her head.

Luan then emerges from the dark while operating a marionette of an executioner. "Dear sister, we have come Lucifer you. Now let the girl of the dark come to light."

"Luan, that punchline doesn't make any sense," Lucy blandly utters.

"No, but this would shed some light for you," she says as she prepares to horrifyingly suck out her soul like a Dementor.

Lucy tries to evade her, but Luan continues to extract her good will.

Edwin is proud at this sight. "Oh Lucy, you really changed everyone's lives. Your darkness became their light. Now, you have one pinch of light left in you. And you'll be part of the dark forever."

"No, please!" she pleads.

But the ceremony has begun.

"Alright, let us all proceed to the front," Edwin instructs the people, to which they do, making them surround Lucy. "Lucy has decided to love me for eternity. And she will fulfill this love by offering herself to darkness and embrace it forever."

Just at that revelation, Lucy cries out in fear. "No! No! Please no!"

"Face it Lucy. You love the dark. You love me," Edwin stresses.

"Yes, I love the dark. I love you Edwin. But I cannot let you cover me and my family in darkness," Lucy pleads.

"Give in Lucy. You cannot deny yourself."

And behind Edwin comes a hardcore emo version of Lincoln, which shocks Lucy. "Lincoln! No! Not you Lincoln!"

"Now, dear boy, you take the lead."

With that, Lincoln begins sucking Lucy's soul, inviting her to a life of eternal darkness. The rest of her siblings take turns in sucking out Lucy's soul that still has blemishes of light in her. The sensation is the same torture as Dementors would do.

Lucy tries to sway away. But the siblings continue to capture her soul.

"No! No! no! Guys no!" she begs in pain. She breaks down as she feels intense agony on thinking that she was behind all these, including submitting to her lovelorn immortal love.

"NO!"

* * *

And just like that, Lucy wakes up from her nightmare. She sees herself back to normalcy, except that Lynn is still sulking, even in her sleep.

"That was close," she remarks, "I thought it was real. That's it for too much. Though I'll still finish _Sleepy Hollow_. But I just hope tomorrow would be normal."

Unfortunately, next morning's breakfast has the Loud siblings slowly and sulkily finish their breakfasts. Their parents bring out their concerns.

"Kids, what's going on? Are you okay?" Mr. Loud asks.

"Is it the eggs? Are they filled with too much oil?" Mrs. Loud follows.

"What's the sense of eating breakfast when a day will just break so fast?" Lincoln emotes.

Fed up with the oversentimental aura, Lucy encourages herself. "That's it. I need to bring my brother and my sisters back to normal. But how?"


	3. Part 3

The next morning still does not bode well for the Loud children. Lucy has her nightmare to carry for the remainder of the day; she also has to deal with her sulky siblings who march to the table like hopeless millennials. The haplessness of the previous days stayed stuck on their minds.

"Kids, you alright?" Lynn Sr. asks.

"Seriously kids, you look so down?" Rita adds her concern.

"What's the point of looking up when the food is so down?" Lincoln mopes sarcastically.

"Okay, looks like someone needs some waffles…to brighten up the day," Lynn Sr. suggests. "Isn't that right, honey?"

"I rather waffle about the fragility of human life," Lola utters.

"Lola, what's the deal? You never use deep words like that, except in your beauty pageants," Rita voices out her concern.

"How deep can we go on this reflection that happiness does not last long?" Luan surprisingly implies.

"Luan, are you okay? You never sounded like this?" Lynn Sr. brings up his concern as well.

"Come on, kids. What's going on? We never seen you this…sad," Rita says.

"Yes, literally sad. Our life story is sad," Lori broods, "Why even try to live when we will end up sad?"

Lynn Sr. and Rita notice that their routinely jolly kids are the ones deeply morose in the table. So, they turn to Lucy about this.

"Lucy, what has gone into your brother and sisters?" Rita asks.

After letting out a little groan, Lucy mutters, "They are just overreacting."

"Yeah, doesn't seem overreacting to me," an unconvinced Lynn Sr. observes.

"Lucy, we're asking you this because normally, you are this, not your siblings," Rita explains vehemently.

"They are just having their moment. Everyone must have their sad moment once in a while," Lucy justifies.

But the utterances of her siblings do not help matters.

"What's the use of ambition when you're not the only dreamer in this world?" Lola sighs.

"What's even the use of dreams when all I have were bad dreams?" Lana follows it up.

"Sunny side up, sunny side down," Luan whimpers.

"Can the sun even literally cry?" Lori reacts.

"If the sun cries, I bet it's the moon's fault for being blue," Lynn follows up Leni's maundering.

"Hello darkness, my old friend…I've come to talk with you again…" Luna projects radically.

"How can you talk to the umbra of an opaque object? I guess the light cannot pass through said object, creating the absence of light," Lisa concludes dramatically. "O where can we see true light?"

"Well, that's sad. Now, umbrellas are fake objects," Leni mopes and cries about it.

"Stirring words…stop recalling them again," Lincoln enunciates.

Both Lynn Sr. and Rita are surprised at the emo expressions from their children.

"Wow, even Lily is getting in the action," Lynn Sr. points out to his infant child, who is mimicking Hamlet using her baby bottle as a skull. She then throws it to the floor, just to say she is upset. With this level of emo projection getting insane, both of the parents' eyes are on Lucy.

"What? I just read a poem for the talent show, and they just react like that," she defends.

"Well, talent show or not, you better convince them to stop this," Rita pleads, "It's getting slight out of hand."

"Please mom, tell that to them."

But untimely enough, Lincoln says this to his younger sister, "Oh Lucy, your profound words made me feel what life is all about: breathing slowly…" Then abruptly, he lets his face fall onto his bowl of cereal. This just raises the concern more and more.

"Sigh…"

Eventually, Lucy accepts the task.

* * *

She goes to Lana first, whom she sees trudging through the mud with her feet. But from her look, Lana seems to be deeply contemplating.

"Lana, you seemed…good…today…" Lucy compliments.

"Good? Do you know what's good about mud, Lucy?" she asks her.

"I don't think I'm the best person to ask, since…but go on. What's good about mud?"

"The moment you hold it, the feeling sticks. The gooey, oh heaven, mushy feeling that you can use it to build mud pies, play with it, especially in the rain, and slide on it."

"That's…great. Well, there's a good side of it at least."

"But there's a bad side of it…the feeling lasts for a while, until the sun comes up and dries the whole thing. So it is soil again."

"Woah, that's rather tragic."

"Indeed." Lucy immediately covers her mouth, shocked at nearly failing to regain Lana's composure. Lana then monotonously implies to her, "I think you are stepping on a sinkhole. What's more tragic than that?"

As she implies to that, Lucy looks to discover that indeed she is sinking. "Sigh…"

* * *

The next pick is Lynn, who in a rare circumstance is now laying on her bed and fiddling with her baseball. For an active athlete, this is a low point.

Lucy busts in the room wearing a baseball hat and football shoulder pads while she dribbles a soccer ball. "Hey Lynn, why don't you play with me in the field? You'd be the one on the net. I would love to have fun…" Lucy insists monotonously.

"What's the use of playing when over time, you will play the same game?" Lynn spouts poetically.

"Okay…that doesn't make sense," the emo girl replies.

"I know. So as life," Lynn emphasizes.

Lucy knows that this is not helping matters. She tries once again to encourage Lynn in her droning tone. "Look Lynn, I can't be playing catch all by myself. I need a fielder."

"You mean a goalie?"

"Ahhh…right…"

"Then, you need someone to tell you that you are wearing the wrong gear for soccer."

When Lynn corrects her, Lucy feels more than embarrassed for how she initiated this in the first place.

* * *

Lucy then goes to Lisa, who has buried herself with library books and other theses she borrowed from the various colleges she visited. The 8-year-old plans to excite the Nobel Peace Prize-winning little sister with a scientific discovery.

"Hey Lisa, I think I found a new element which I think you'll be pleased about," Lucy monotonously says.

"Oh please, all elements in the periodic table have been found, either of them discovered or synthesized," Lisa corrects her, "So, what's the use of scientific discoveries when they all have been discovered?"

"Well, you'll never know unless you found it," Lucy retorts.

"I beg to differ. Tell those conspiracy theorists who still think the earth is flat," Lisa points out.

"How about I present you this?" She then shows Lisa a spongey rock covered in sand that she found in the yard. "It had a stench but must be a new element."

"That's a compost from the litter box," Lisa confirms to her.

After finding that out, Lucy lets go off the 'rock', but it accidentally drops on her.

* * *

Despite two failures in a row, Lucy still proceeds to bring her sisters back to normal. For Leni, she asks to her, of course monotonously, "Hey Leni, which do you think looks good: this red dress or this green one?"

"I pick the blue…because I am!" Leni then cries in over-the-top fashion.

* * *

When that failed, Lucy moves on to Luna, who is listening to her headphones.

Holding a keytar with her, she pleads, "Hey Luna, want to jam with me?"

But Luna does not hear her.

"Luna! Luna!"

Suddenly, the 15-year-old rockstar belches the song she is listening to, " _I wanna get better…better! Better! Better! I wanna get better!_ "

* * *

So, Lucy moves on to the next sibling, Lola, who is moping on her toy tea table. She walks in with a similar tea playset. "Hey Lola, wanna have tea with me?"

"Did you know tea has no taste?" Lola asks her.

"Yeah, I was…not content…" Lucy remarks unintentionally.

"I know right," Lola replies. "I thought it would have the sweetness of life. But it is just…bland."

And that is another failure on Lucy's book.

* * *

The 8-year-old goth then moves on to Luan, who is moping on the floor of her room.

Lucy attempts to start a joke in the blandest tone possible, "Knock…knock…"

Luan contemplates, "I rather knock on wood. But it didn't work. Life is lifeless already."

"That's too oxymoronic," Lucy remarks.

"I guess the world is full of morons like us," Luan comments.

Bearing another failure, Lucy moans, "Sigh…"

* * *

From there, she moves on to Lori, whom she sees reading a teary-eyed young adult-novel. But judging from the expressions of the eldest of the Loud bunch, Lori seems to be emotionally moved by the book.

"Why is life's so literally unfair that Hazel has Augustus taken away from her?" Lori then sobs continually.

At that extent, Lucy decides to skip her.

* * *

She finally ends up at the closest sibling she could ever rely on: Lincoln. But instead of seeing him in his everyman confidence that he would use to daily manage his sisters, Lincoln is facing in front of a full-body mirror, deeply, deeply as he could think.

Lucy comes to his aide. "Lincoln, I know you feel deeply affected by the poem I wrote. But it has been days. Can you at least feel something else, aside from pain, loneliness and angst?"

"How about depth?" he enunciates vividly. "For what life can provide but a bereft of depth."

It comes to shock for Lucy that she also discovers his complete emo gear that includes dark makeup, black hair dye, skull t-shirt, black leather boots, a choker, hair gel for spiked hair and eyeliner.

"Lincoln, don't tell me you want to embrace…this," Lucy beseeches, "It takes more than just a transformation to embrace the dark."

"What could be darker than dwelling on the reality that we are just small beings in a small world in a vast, dark dimension?" Lincoln expresses. "What is there than this?"

"Lincoln, you're not a nihilist," Lucy remarks.

"Then you're a citizen in this tiny world of a dark, dark universe," Lincoln concludes.

"Sigh…"

* * *

Somehow, this is enough to offend Lucy that she walks out, not for the fact that Lincoln reeks poetry that is more adequate to her, but for the fact that she failed to convince her siblings.

She then goes to ramble about it, "What's going on?! I just read a poem and everybody can't rub it off their heads! This is half I expected! I don't expect them to be dour people! Ugh! What could go worse than this?!"

Coincidentally, she looks at her left to see Lily banging her rattle and moping about herself.

With no other choice, Lucy confronts her siblings, when they all gather in front of the television. "Okay guys, I have no problem with any of you going 'happy-go-lucky' or being sad. But this is not you! Get over it, guys. It's just a poem I read, not an obituary."

"Why'd he have to leave his father to die in the tornado?" Lana randomly reacts.

"What are you…?" Lucy then turns behind to see that the siblings are watching _Man of Steel_. "Why are you…?"

"Oh I literally relate to the sad man of steel," Lori comments.

"I wish there is something moving and lifelike that I could relate to," Lynn responds.

Lucy thinks that this type of movie is not helping the situation. But in some way, this gives her an idea.


	4. Part 4

Lucy is again frustrated at her failure. It is a mess that she made up that she cannot even tidy up to where everything belonged to. Clearly, her poem found an audience and shook their senses that they become senseless. All this is attributed to an artwork that Lucy just wants to share to the world.

The 8-year-old emo bemoans this fact, "Man, this is already too much darkness in this house. Ughhh! Why does it have to end up like this?!" She then sighs, "Sigh…too much dark. But people don't like that much dark. So, what if I bring too much dark that they wanted light? Could that work?"

But as Lucy ponders about it, she imagines a different result. "No, that would just make them depressed. Sigh…what could I do?"

Lucy's mind wonders around her room as she tries to come up with a solution. That is when her eyes point to a particular poster where she sees another poster pasted behind it. She then gets up from her bed to peel off the poster, revealing Princess Pony.

She remembers after the moment Lincoln discovered her as the culprit of the clogged toilet on the episode "Sleuth or Consequences", she pasted the poster back to keep her secret concealed. But she always knew that truth will have to be revealed for some time.

However, seeing Princess Pony again brings a little joy for Lucy, which makes her think of an idea. "Hmmm…" She then sneaks into Lori and Leni's room, gains access to their closet to open up a secret walking closet in the Loud house. Of all the secrets that the Loud sisterhood have, this is one of their most concealed.

Lucy then looks up to the costumes part of the closet, where she spots one particular apparel that could solve the Loud House depression conundrum. But she begrudgingly accepts it. "There's no other way!"

And eventually, she does.

The remainder of the day goes as usual for the Loud children: going to school with their long faces while passively go on with the day's routines. Every person closest to them, most especially Clyde, raises his or her eyebrow of disbelief of the Loud's sudden sullen mood.

As the children arrive at the house, they are greeted by Lucy's sudden whimsical appearance. Though, her voice is still monotone. "Hello sisters and brother, I just want to brighten up your day…" She then throws flowers sullenly.

It does not do anything for any of the siblings.

"What's with the happy attitude?" Lynn asks.

"We can't do happy, not if we have to deal that happiness doesn't last forever," Lola sulks.

"It's not true," Lucy says in a deadpan. "We all have to be happy, even me."

"You don't sound happy…" Lincoln points out.

"Just watch me." Lucy then starts a musical extravaganza for her siblings, where she sings blankly:

 _It's Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!  
Even though the sound of it  
Is something quite atrocious  
If you say it loud enough  
You'll always sound precocious  
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!  
Um-dittle-ittl-um-dittle-I  
Um-dittle-ittl-um-dittle-I  
Um-dittle-ittl-um-dittle-I  
Um-dittle-ittl-um-dittle-I_

"I don't get it," Luan reacts.

"I think she means supercalifrasuzzamalapadalalalaja…bogus," Luna slurs.

"All songs are bogus," Lana utters, "When I'm happy…I don't know it."

But Lucy continues to sing and dance the best she can. She even gets back up from Geo, Cliff, Charles and Walt as background dancers.

 _Because I was afraid to speak  
When I was just a lass  
Me father gave me nose a tweak  
And told me I was crass  
But then one day I learned a word  
That saved me aching nose  
The biggest word you ever heard  
And this is how it goes_

"You know what would be literally sadder?" Lori shares to the sulky Louds, "After this, our pets will go back to their caged enclosures."

"Goodness, now I pity the marsupials in captivity in Royal Woods Zoo," Lisa adds. "Such miserable fate."

"I feel bad too about those Martian rolls in cavity," Leni shares, though with a clueless idea. "Now I need to go to the dentist."

Lisa frowns at this, while Lucy heads to finish her number.

 _Oh, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!_  
 _Even though the sound of it_  
 _Is something quite atrocious_  
 _If you say it loud enough_  
 _You'll always sound precocious_  
 _Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!_  
 _Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!_

"Ta-da…" she exclaims blandly before the performs take deep breaths from such an "explosive" number.

Needless to say, all are expressionless still.

"You…you have nothing to say?!"

"Well, I say this," Lana answers, " _I've seen worse dancing animals from Alvin and the Chipmunks_."

"Like…nothing?"

To answer, the Loud children are just blasé with the exertion that Lucy did.

That is the point where the gothic kid breaks down in front of them. "GUYS! What is the matter with you?! I'm not even asking you to be "too emotional" with my poem! I just need someone to listen to them! I don't even expect it to be on the talent show! And I don't even really care with you guys like this!"

"Yeah, what's the point of joining?" Lola sulks.

"Who even cares?" Lynn follows up.

Then Lynn passionately pours out her sentiments, "I DO! I DO! I do care about all of you! I want my brother and sisters back!"

"I miss you Lori and your ramblings about teen life." Lori sulks after hearing that from her younger sister.

"I miss you Leni in your klutziness at everything." Leni feels a gut-punch in her.

"I miss you Luna for being a rocking sister." Luna's remorse grows.

"I miss you Luan and you annoying puns." Luan senses a condemnation.

"I miss you Lynn with your energy, just pumped to be at sports." Lynn's gut suddenly swirls figuratively.

"I miss you Lola, your…attitude. It's just too fierce that I admire that." Lola cowers on the side.

"I miss you Lana at you being a fun-loving mud ball." Lana stumbles with a feeling of penitence.

"I miss you Lisa being intelligent and too know-it-all." Lisa just reacted passively, as she always does.

"I even miss Lily in her being too adorable to not to be shed with darkness." Ironically, Lily at her crib is whimpering like an emo.

"And I miss you Lincoln for being the big brother that I can always count on." Just like the rest, Lincoln feels a sense of remorse and empathy for his younger sister.

"I just want you all back. Please!"

Lucy realizes that she effectively gives out a moving sentiment to her siblings, even though they feel less to react towards it.

"How could we?" Luna utters sulkily.

"Because we said so," Rita says when she and Lynn Sr. suddenly show up in the scene.

"You better not take this lightly, kids," Lynn Sr. warns them.

But it just makes the kids more distraught and self-pitying, as if their depression is a lifetime status.

So, Lucy moves to the last resort that she hopes will at least spark something in her siblings' dull emotions. "Well, I could use company in the movies."

Still, they reply with a meh expression.

"Kids?!" Rita warns them. And that is somewhat enough to convince them to go with Lucy to the movies.

Lucy banks this as her alternative plan: to have her brother and sisters watch an emotionally driven movie about music, family, life and death with her, which are just perfect qualities a movie Lucy would watch. The 8-year-old hopes so that this current movie would shake the hearts of her siblings.

"I hope they remember me," she utters.


	5. Part 5

Quick transition later, and the Loud children reluctantly accompany Lucy to the movies. Since the current cinema complex consists of previews about mainstream sellouts – according to the brooding Loud children – like an African king in a CGI costume, a mediocre reboot of an old videogame, a nerdy movie about old videogames, a monster movie based on an old videogame, a _Transformers_ clone about robots fighting monsters in Asia and a horror movie with no dialogue, Lucy decides to see again the animated film about the Day of the Dead festivals.

As it turns out, that movie just ended its run a few days ago. With no other choice, she brings her siblings to the other talked-about movie musical, the one featuring a humbug showman who cons people with special abilities for his own show.

"Well, here goes nothing…" she hopes.

As they enter the cinema, the family has their frowns still plastered on their faces, so as their depressing poetic conjectures.

"What is the purpose of movies anyway?" Lola surmises, "To escape? Where to escape? Nowhere…that is…"

"Where to escape from human misery?" Lana connects the dots. "More human misery. It is nowhere we were going."

Lucy gives her family five buckets of popcorn, box of chocolate bars and cups of soda. But to some, they just place their food on their laps, not wanting to touch them.

"I wish life was sweet as this candy bar," Lynn laments. "But it is all a pipe dream."

"Hey…this soda is sparkling of life…" Luan sulkily remarks. "That's not even good wordplay."

The attendants behind the siblings shushes them.

"Silence…" Lincoln articulates. "Our happiness was already silenced. I guess that goes along with our thoughts too."

Lucy is instantly dismayed, recognizing that her brother and her sisters still bear their gloominess to the movie house. "I just hope this works. I don't know what else to do."

Right on time, the movie starts and the first musical number begins with the titular protagonist showing off his circus troupe in extravagant musical fashion. Even with such an explosive number with thundering stomps of feet and an exhilarating chorus, the audience they are in is still and static.

Nevertheless, that does not stop Lucy from tapping her feet to the beat of the opening song. It really surprises her, given that she has different taste in music. But the beat just makes her want to leap from her seat and tap along.

The goth also notices Lincoln's foot tapping along. It is not as upbeat as Lucy's, but those are baby steps for the 8-year-old. She is hoping that the rest of the family can jive along with the song-and-dance numbers since the movie consists of those per 10 minutes.

"That's it, guys," Lucy mumbles to herself.

Nine minutes in, and the movie moves to the second musical number. And the audience's heads are glued to the rhythm of one inspiring song.

 _I close my eyes and I can see_

 _The world that's waiting up for me_

 _That I call my own_

 _Through the dark, through the door_

 _Through where no one's been before_

 _But it feels like home_

Lucy never minds how faux-inspiring it us; she just notices some of her sisters, notably Leni, Luna and Lola, trying to mouth the lyrics of the song they only hear now.

 _Every night I lie in bed_

 _The brightest colors fill my head_

 _A million dream are keeping me awake_

 _I think of what the world could be_

 _A vision of the one I see_

 _A million dreams is all it's gonna take_

 _A million dreams for the world we're gonna make_

The sisters are at awe of the colors splashing on the screen, as do Lincoln. It is not yet enough to confirm if they project any visible emotion or reaction, but Lucy is hoping they will, especially as the movie goes to the new two songs featuring the two dreamy male leads.

"How were they're able to do that?" Leni asks.

"They might have known how to sing or dance," Lori assumes. "It feels…different…but okay."

"I wish I was good on singing or creating songs like those dudes," Luna shares.

Looking at this point, Lucy's plan is taking effect.

The next song number enters, and it is a doozy for the once sulky siblings.

 _All the shine of a thousand spotlights_

 _All the stars we steal from the nightsky_

 _Will never be enough_

 _Never be enough_

 _Towers of gold are still too little_

 _These hands could hold the world but it'll_

 _Never be enough_

 _Never be enough_

It is especially heart-wrenching as the song number hits its highest notes. And alongside in the movie, a star-crossed romance blooms from the characters of the movie, which had Lori, Leni, Lola and Lily at edge of their seats. Seeing the fad, the rest goes along, much to Lucy's delight.

Then, the movie's signature song kicks in. Some of the Loud children recognize the song.

"Hey, I know this beat somewhere," Lynn recognizes the tune. "My teammates keep playing this song in their phones."

"Me too," Lana reacts simultaneously. "Well, not teammates but some guys at school."

"Gosh, this song literally changed me when I first heard it," Lori expresses.

"You mean now, the first time you heard it?" Luna wonders.

"I know right!"

Then the chorus kick in, which prompted the Louds to literally leap out from their seats and sing along with the movie.

 _When the sharpest words wanna cut me down_

 _I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out_

 _I am brave, I am bruised_

 _I am who I'm meant to be, this is me_

 _Look out 'cause here I come_

 _And I'm marching on to the beat I drum_

 _I'm not scared to be seen_

 _I make no apologies, this is me_

"Gasp, I never thought they would react like this. But at least it is working," Lucy says to herself. She could only lean back to her seat with a deep breath of relief. Even if that means having to deal with concerned cinemagoers who insist for the siblings to sit down and be silent. But the entire theater sings along.

 _This is me!_

"Woooh!" the kids hoot, finally feeling ecstatic after releasing their worries and singing their hearts out, even if most of them do not have natural singing voices.

"That was great!" Lincoln reacts. "But wait…I am back. I…I…I am not feeling down like before. Is this…? Is this real I am feeling?"

The rest of the siblings feel the same way.

"Me too," Lori shares the same sentiment. "It's kind of weird. I still think that I should literally ponder about the hopelessness of the government and the inaccuracy of the movie's story. But…I just want to sing."

"Ohh, you do too?" Leni asks her sister, "You also want to ponder about the hopelessness of the government and the inaccuracy of the movie's story?" She then changes her tone. "Gosh, how come I know those words?"

"How come you know your words?" Lisa responds. "Wait, did I return to normalcy with my substantial criticism to my biological sibling?"

"Shush guys! We're watching the movie here!" Lola insists.

From this point, Lucy has been proud of her success on snapping her siblings back to their normal selves. She could really savor the over-the-top fashion that her siblings are having as they sing along to romantic duet, sang by two fictional characters on a real-life setting.

 _So why don't we rewrite the stars?_

 _Maybe the world could be ours tonight_

It is all good from there, especially as they watch the main hero experiences his downfall with a scandal and the crashing of his career. The guys are gripping on their seats. The less can be said for Lucy, who finally returns to her quiet self and let her sibling sing amock.

Yet as the movie hits its second-to-the-last musical number, and the Louds ready for the song to kick in, Lincoln notices his young sister. "Hey…Luce…thanks."

"It's my pleasure. I knew it would take a movie to bring you back," Lucy replies.

"Nah. It's you. You brought us here. We wouldn't be ourselves if it weren't for you, Lucy," Lincoln acknowledges, much to Lucy's delight. "Come on. Join us."

And with that, Lucy joins in with the rest of the siblings as they jam to the musical number. The sisters acknowledge the presence of Lucy and lift her up.

 _And we will come back home_

 _And we will come back home_

 _Home, again!_

 _And we will come back home_

 _And we will come back home_

 _Home, again!_

 _And we will come back home_

 _And we will come back home_

 _Home, again!_

 _From now on!_

From there, the goth princess knows exactly what they could present for the talent show. And, to no one's surprise, the Louds do a medley of the songs from _The Greatest Showman_. You could imagine how the choreography goes along. And absolutely, no one in the introduce is surprised by it since some participants did the same thing.

Nevertheless, it is an effort that Lucy loved because she has done it with her family.


End file.
